


The Shade Of Gideon Grey

by 1f_this_be_madness



Series: So Shines A Good Deed-Police Partners [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: And I named the zebra 'Ziggy Stardust' because of reasons, F/M, Gen, I added a second section to this piece, deals with intense bullying by Junior Ranger Scouts and Gideon Grey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 12:45:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7508805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1f_this_be_madness/pseuds/1f_this_be_madness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No, he isn't dead--but Judy Hopps is still haunted by the taunting this bully of a fox gave her when she was nine, and no matter what she tells her parents to the contrary, she still harbors some resentment of and suspicion for foxes to this day. Well, until the forty-eight hours that changed everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Shade Of Gideon Grey

Judy Hopps still believes that anyone can do anything, but deep deep down--maybe even as deep as her DNA--she harbors a certain fear and distrust of foxes.

She remembers, despite what she said to her parents, that Gideon Grey was the first person to hurt her, to put her down, to disbelieve her dream and potential to become the first bunny cop. It is his voice she hears at the police academy when she falls and fails time after time; it is his laughter that rings in her ears her first day on the force when Chief Bogo assigned her to write parking tickets in her three-wheeled car and clown vest. It is the precedent of his thievery of Sherry Sheep's tickets when they were nine years old that incited her to take particular notice of Nick Wilde when he wanted to buy his son a jumbo pop (although he WAS also conning people in his own right, so her instinct in that case had been good; she might not have discovered his true occupation or enlisted his help if she had not been so quick to take notice of and follow him into the elephant ice pop shop).

Judy is getting over it ever-so-slightly, though--her prejudice against foxes--the more time she spends in Nick's company. And by the time they are running for their lives together through the rain forest district, she doesn't think twice about saving his life--and THEN he tells Chief Bogo off on her behalf after the chief demanded that she turn over her badge: "Uh, no." Chief Bogo couldn't believe his ears. "What did you say, fox?!" Nick snorted. "Sorry--what I said was, NO. She will not be giving you that badge. Look, you gave her a clown vest, a three-wheeled joke mobile, and two DAYS to solve a case you guys haven't cracked in two WEEKS?? No wonder she had to get help from a fox! None of you guys were gonna help her, were you? Here's the thing, Chief--you gave her the forty-eight hours, so technically we still have . . . ten left to find our Mr. Otterton. And that's EXACTLY what we're gonna do. So, if you'll excuse us, we have a very big lead to follow and a case to crack. Good day." He leads the way to the sky tram, opens the door for her, and ushers her inside with a courteous "Officer Hopps," and then the most important thing he tells her when they are on their way; the thing that forever changes the way she sees him: "Never let them see that they get to you."

Her heart almost breaks when he tells her about his 'initiation' into the Junior Ranger Scouts and says "If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else." Judy wants to do something for him, and her immediate wish to comfort the fox with words and touch is achingly sincere. She has never meant anything as much as the words she says to him and the gentle paw she places on his arm. 

"Nick, you are so much more than that."

The fox didn't take her attempts to comfort him very well, so Judy is on the lookout for any other ways to assist her new friend, and asking him to be her partner is the first.

She almost screws it up forever with her disastrous press conference-- "'Clearly, there's a biological component'? 'Predators are reverting back to their primitive, savage ways'? Are you serious?? Let me get this straight--do you think I'm the kind of fox that needs to be muzzled? the kind you need fox repellent for? Yeah, don't think I didn't notice THAT little item the first time we met!" Nick Wilde is furious. "So, let me ask you a question: are you afraid of me? Do you think I might go nuts? You think I might go savage? You think I might try to . . . EAT YOU?!?" Judy was so shocked and scared by his sudden increase in volume and movement toward her face that she reacted instinctively, reaching for the can of 'Fox-B-gone' on her belt. And the look on Nick's face was so hurt and sad for an instant before it changed to resignation and rage. "I knew it. Mph. Just when I finally thought somebody believed in me. Probably best if you didn't have a predator as a partner." When he gave her back the paper and exited the room, Hopps knew that a door was closing and saw what a truly horrible thing she had done.

And when she finds him again and he walks away after she mentions the night-howlers, Judy can't let Nick go. She stumbles wildly after her friend calling, "Wait, wait listen--I know you'll never forgive me and I don't blame you. I wouldn't forgive me either. I was ignorant . . . and irresponsible, and small-minded. But predators shouldn't suffer because of my mistakes." She is pleading and her voice is cracking. She knows she has to make him see, and she feels so awful for what she did to him. "I have to fix this. But . . . I can't do it without you." Judy has started crying now. "And after we're done you can hate me and--and that'll be fine, because I was a HORRIBLE friend, and I hurt you, and you--and you can walk away knowing that you were right all along. I really am just a dumb bunny!" Her last two sentences are barely choked out through the vehemence of her sobs, but Judy means every word she says. Nick is her closest friend at this point in her life, and she hurt him so badly that she doesn't expect him to forgive her.

And then he does, playing back her words on the carrot-recorder-pen and telling her, "Don't worry, Carrots. I'll let you erase it. In forty-eight hours," before inviting her to "All right, get in here," pulling her in for a hug, and kidding her about being SOOO emotional as he pats her back and strokes her ears. Nick's forgiveness, and the help he gives her during the rest of this crazy case, is the greatest gift Judy has ever been given. And she longs to find a way to pay her friend back in kind. Somehow.

***

The steps to doing so take her on a difficult journey, starting with some digging into the city's historical archives about the Junior Ranger Scouts and their requirements and practices. She also researches her partner's old neighborhood as thoroughly as possible, since Nick never let slip detailed specifics about the area where he grew up. She finds the oath the Rangers had to take, and remembers his voice saying it, so full of pride and hope: "I, Nicholas Wilde, promise to be brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy." Until those preyed-upon kids had taken both hope and pride from her friend with their muzzling cruelty. Judy finds the zebra: male, first name Ziggy, last name Stardust first, and leans on him to help her locate the others. She doesn't stop here, and does some more digging--online this time--to find the best badges for each troop by name.

After all of this has been done, Officer Hopps stops by her partner's desk one evening after work and asks him to accompany her into the city. "Sure thing," the fox says as he shuts down his computer and bids Clawhauser good night. "Where to, Carrots?" He asks when they reach the street. "Your place?" She shakes her head. 

"Not tonight, Nick--at least, not yet. We're actually going to your place, where you grew up." The fox's ears have flattened and his pace has slowed.

"Oh. Really, Hopps?"

"Yes, really, Wilde. Just trust me, okay?"

"I always do," he assures her. "Though right now I'm starting to wonder if I've made a huge mistake."

"Har har, very funny. Here we go." They have reached their destination: the stoop of the building where junior Ranger Scout troop 2601--and Nick's worst memory--resides. He freezes.

"What--Carrots, what are you doing to me? What is this?!" Judy takes his now-trembling paw in hers. 

"I want to help you, Nick. Come inside with me. Please." His ears drop all the way down and he wrenches his paw away.

"No, don't. I-I can't. This is the worst place--" He has backed up into the corner of the opposite wall now, the same spot he'd run to and crouched down in all those years ago.

"The worst place in the world for you, Nick. I know. And I want to help you with that." She follows his movement and crouches down in front of him as he breathes heavily, his pupils dilating in panic. She stretches out a paw to him. "Come inside with me, just for five minutes. Please?"

It is a testament to the strength of their friendship that he doesn't tell her where to go; instead he closes his eyes, squares his shoulders, and finally reaches out to take her paw. Judy leads him up the steps and through the door of that fateful building once again; and for the second time in his life he sees that group of guys gathered in a circle waiting for him--except this time he is most definitely NOT ready for whatever is going to happen.

"Sweet cheese and crackers! What is this, Judy?!" He snarls. "You brought me here tonight--to see--THEM?"

"No, Nick," his partner says firmly. "I brought you here to become a Junior Ranger Scout. And I brought them here to see you." She goes over to the first animal on the left, a zebra, and nudges him in the haunch with her shoulder.

"I-we have something we want to say," the zebra says finally, his voice high and reedy.

"What makes you think anything you want to say would interest me?!" Nick spits out in fury. "You MUZZLED ME and said if I thought I could be part of the Junior Ranger Scouts, I must've been even dumber than I looked!" They all wince at that, and a wombat continues with tears in his eyes,

"True, we did and said all that, and I don't expect you to forgive us, Nick." He looks around helplessly at the other members of the troop. "None of us do. But we want you to know how sorry we are."

"Yeah," the third Ranger added as Nick snorted. "Every day since I wised up about preds and prey I wanted to find you and apologize for what we done . . . what I did. But I was too ashamed and scared til this little rabbit called me up." He gestures at Judy. "She told me there was a way to make amends, and I agreed to it in a heartbeat. We all did." The others nod. "We want to make you a truly inducted member of Junior Ranger Scout Troop 2601 and present you with the badge for goin' above and beyond the call of duty in a field situation." 

All of the troop members get into two lines and say in turn: "Nicholas Wilde, in your assistance to this police officer in the cases of the fourteen missing mammals, you demonstrated immense bravery in dealing with Mayor Bellweather's rams, loyalty by speaking up to Chief Bogo, trustworthiness by keeping faith with your contacts, and helpfulness by running a license plate, helping with the jam cams, and procuring evidence from the lair of Doug Ramses. Above all, you proved yourself through your friendship with this rabbit in true interspecies predator/prey camaraderie. And to present you with this honor and bear witness to your oath in her official capacity, here is Officer Judy Hopps of the ZPD." Judy smiles and winks at Nick as she strides forward between the lines and pivots to face him. 

"Raise your right paw," she says.

"Judy--"

"Raise your paw and speak the oath," she gently instructs him. "Go on, Nick." He takes a deep breath and swallows hard.

"All right. I, Nicholas Wilde, promise to be brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy to the Junior Ranger Scouts."

"So, by the power vested in me by the head of the Ranger Scouts organization, I, Judy Hopps, bestow upon you the title of Junior Ranger and bequeath to you this medal." She hands him a golden medallion and places its multi-colored ribbon around his neck. "Congratulations, Nick Wilde, and welcome to the Ranger Scouts!"

"Welcome to the Ranger Scouts!!" echo the others. And, "Huzzah!!!!"all yell for him ecstatically, shaking his paw and pounding him on the back--and as Nick turns dazedly around, he gets the sweetest surprise of all--his mother is framed in the doorway and beams at him proudly.

"Ma," he murmurs as he rushes over to embrace her.

"My wonderful son. I am so proud of you." She smiles at the rabbit over his shoulder. "Well done, Judy."

"Thank you, ma'am," the bunny replies gladly. Nick's eyes widen and he gapes at his mother as he lets go of her. 

"You know my partner, Ma?"

"Of course I do, Nicholas," returns the older vixen. "That little bunny put this whole thing together for your sake." She chucked her son affectionately under the chin. "You've got a good friend there, son." Nick's face is full of love and gratitude as he looks at his partner and replies,

"You don't have to tell me, Ma. I know." His mother laughs at his tone and ruffles Nick's fur. "Glad to hear it! Now you had better get yourself home to bed, and I expect a phone call--or visit--very soon, all right? Judy, make sure you remind him!" She exits the room as Nick weakly protests and Judy calls after her,

"Can do, Mrs. Wilde!" before turning to her friend and grinning at him. Nick rolls his eyes and fondly shakes his head as he watches the energetic little rabbit bounce over to thank his erstwhile enemies for their changing hearts. He even manages to nod and wave slightly as they leave. Then it is him and Judy alone in the doorway as she turns and asks, "So, you want to come have a drink at my place now?" Nick Wilde leans down and gently nuzzles her with his nose in the sincerest thanks and affection before replying,

"Sure, why not? Can't let that carrot juice--or all those delicious blueberries--go to waste."

"Darn tootin'," Judy laughs, and once more her partner puts his paw in hers and squeezes.

"Hey, Carrots," he says quietly as they head back across the district, "Thanks." As Judy Hopps looks up into her fox friend's shining eyes and comforted countenance, she recognizes that the last vestige of power held by Gideon Grey's bullying of her all those years ago has definitively been put to rest this night.

**Author's Note:**

> There are some quotes taken from Zootopia, which I thank Disney for as I did not write them but incorporated them needfully into my story.


End file.
